My Favourite Fall Traditions

I am a nostalgic individual, and I look
forward to my seasonal traditions and rituals every year. Fall is when I really
start to embrace my creature comforts, and I become more and more eager to
celebrate the same routines right through until the holidays. This may seem
dull to some, but I really look forward to it. Come January, I feel bleak, no
matter how hard I try to find things to celebrate. Spring and summer are all
about renewal and adventure. I welcome fall, my time to reacquaint myself with
the familiar.

Here are a few of my favourite traditions:

Apple picking

Yes, yes I am that #basic pumpkin-spice-drinking-ugg-boots-wearing-apple-picking b*tch. I am hundo p ok with that, because pumpkin spice is delicious, ugg boots are comfy AF, and freshly picked apples are perfect. I don’t blame Eve for giving into temptation ( I, for one, give into temptation often and I think I’m doing quite well).

Maybe it’s because I’m a city girl through
and through, so the novelty of picking actual food off of an actual tree will
never wear off. I also love the neatly organized rows of the orchards, and the
abundance of everything. It’s beautiful.

I usually go with Azim, and he is happy to take me because he knows a freshly baked apple crisp will quickly follow. I used to bake often when I didn’t work full-time while juggling a blog and social life, but that hobby has taken a backseat. I still pull out two tried and true recipes: blueberry lemon squares in the spring, and apple crisp in the fall. Azim can polish off an entire baking dish of apple crisp in one sitting. He did this when we first started dating, and I made it for him while he was living in residence at UBC. It still makes me smile to remember 🙂

Driving down the DVP to see the changing
foliage

I often go for hikes in the fall to admire and appreciate the gorgeous leaves changing colour across the city. But my favourite way to truly keep track of the change, is driving down the Don Valley Parkway. I usually take the DVP at least once a week, and because the landscape is so familiar, the changing colours are that much more noticeable.

This blazing, golden season is far too short, so I try not to ever take it for granted. Here are a few pictures, NOT of the DVP, because I don’t take photos while I’m driving. Throwing in one photo of me driving very tensely because I hate being on the highway, but Azim is a good cheerleader.

Ghost tours, séances, and other spooky
things

I’ve written several times about how my
family has a fondness for the macabre. We celebrate it quite regularly by
visiting haunted destinations, going on ghost tours, and watching scary movies
and films. We watched the Haunting of Hill House together after I moved back in
with my parents, and I made them sleep with their door open because I am a huge
baby.

Toronto has no shortage of ghoulish
activities. Last year I was scared out of my wits at a séance at Black Creek
Pioneer Village, and we’ll be doing something similar this year at George Brown
House.

We’ve done Legends of Horror at Casa Loma, Séance by Nicholas Wallace, Toronto’s ghost walks at UofT and Distillery District, and we visit the haunted Keg quite often. If you need spooky suggestions, you’ve come to the right place!

Swapping out my summer wardrobe for fall

I recently invested in a humongous PAX
wardrobe system from Ikea, so I technically don’t need to swap out my wardrobe
anymore. All my clothes are in one, visible place. It’s bliss. I’m sure when I
achieve my goal of a walk-in closet with a shoe-case and leopard rug, I’ll
really be in heaven.

Although I’m not taking sweaters out of
storage, I am pulling them out and inserting them into my outfit rotation.
Along with tweed, leather, blazers, wool, and mohair pieces. Yes, elbow-length
gloves! Hello, berets! How I’ve missed you, ankle boots!

Here’s a grid of some fall outfits that
didn’t make it to the blog, but did make it to my iCloud:

Notice the iPhone upgrade y’all

I have many other fall traditions that don’t need a whole blog post, but I will mention them here:

Making my dad carve our jack-o-lantern

Loading up on carbs because fall carbs are the best (stuffing and cranberry sauce, game over).

Watching Hocus Pocus

Paging through the September issue of every fashion magazine

Reading a classic novel

Living in turtlenecks

Do you have any fun fall traditions? I
would really love to hear them! Thank you as always for reading xo